Chusetts



(Model.) 7 J. D. ELLIOT & J. A. SPIKE.

- PIANO ACTION.

No. 244,210. Patented July 12,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrlcs.

JOSEPH D. ELLIOT, OF NEWTON, AND JAMES A. SPIKE, OF BOSTON, MASSA- OHUSETTS; SAID SPIKE ASSIGNOR TO SAID ELLIOT.

PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,210, dated July 12, 1881. Application filed April 23, 1881. (Model) To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, JOSEPH D. ELLIOT, of Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and J AMES A. SPIKE, of

5 Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new Improvement in Piano-Actions and we do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the let ters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure l, a side view, in a state of rest; Fig. 2, as the hammer is thrown up in position for repeating; Fig. 3, a modification; Fig. 4, Rog erss construction, upon which this invention is an improvement.

This invention relates to an improvement on the piano-action for which Letters Patent were granted to Charles E. Rogers, March 2, 1875. As constructed in the said patent of Rogers, the ,arm A, which extends from the body B of'the hammer, was curved and cushioned upon its inside, as seen in Fig. 4. The jack was provided with an adjustable stop, a, which, as the jack escaped from the shoulder 11 on the hammer-body, would strike the cushion in the arm A, while the stop (I in the jack would strike the foot 6 of the hammer-body. The difiiculty with this construction was, that in attempting to repeat the jack did not come down to its place of rest every time, and in rapid repeating, where the movement of the 3 5 jack was veryrapid,it was found that the arm A would fall down over the stop, while the escapement f on the jack would ride up on the cushion on the back of the hammer, as seen in broken lines, and thus wedge the jack between the cushion on the arm A and the cushion on the back of the body, thus making rapid repeating a failure, because when such a blocking occurred the hammer could not rise until the key was left free to fully rise and permit the jack to fall to its place of rest.

To overcome this difficulty is the prime object of this invention; and it consists in the construction as hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims,reference being had to Figs. 1 and 2.

A represents the body of the hammer, pivoted at a, in the usual manner B, an arm, which extends forward and downward in front of thejack O, as seen in Fig. 1. The jack 0 is hinged to a vertical rod, in the usual man- 5 ner, so as to receive movement from the key of the instrument. In a state of resta shoulder, 1), below the escapement d on the jack, engages a shoulder, e, on the body and holds the hammer back, and also insures the bringing of the hammer back home when the key is free.

Above the shoulder e and above the escapement is a double shoulder, f h, on the hammerbody, and over which the escapement cl rides in forcing thehammer against the wire, as seen in Fig. 2.

At the lower end of the arm B is an adj ustable stop, 1), against which the back E of the jack strikes when the hammer is fully-raised, and at the same time an adjustable stop, F, on the jack below strikes thefoot G of the hammer, as seen in Fig. 2, so that while the raising of the jack will throw the hammer quickly forward, it will be forced to rebound by the stop F striking the foot G of the hammer and the stopD of the arm coming against the back of the jack, so that the hammer will be suspended in its return movement but a short distance back from the wire, the escapement restin g on the shoulder h. Then a very slight release of the key will permit the jack to proportionately fall, and the hammer also to proportionately fall back, the shoulder h still resting on the escapement, so that when the key is depressed it will throw the hammer without necessarily returning to the first or principal shoulder, f. Because of this engagement of the escapement with the second shoulder, h, the full return of the key is avoided, and the most rapid repeating may be made, and 0 because of the very slight movement required for the key. The second shoulder, h, prevents the possibility of the hammer falling back, as before referred to as existing in the Rogers construction. The range of movement may 5 be regulated by the stops D F.

While we prefer to arrange the stops D and F as shown, it will be evident that they may be differently arranged and produce the same result--as, for instance, the stop D may be on 00 the back of the jack, or the stop 13 may be on the foot G of the hammer, or the part of the arm B may be made adjustable, as in Fig. 3, by cutting off the extreme end of the arm, making it of a rocker shape, then attaching the block B upon the rocking surface by means of two screws, S S, one above and the other below, so that by loosening one screw and turning in the other the cushions will be moved nearer to or farther from the jack. We therefore do not confine ourselves to any particular construction of the stops D F.

The stops D F may be dispensed with and the advantages of the two shoulders f h attained by making the spring R, which forces the jack forward, of sufficient strength to hold it upon the second shoulder after it has escaped from the first, or if the jack be arranged only forjust that amount of play which will permit its escape from the shoulder f and engage with the shoulder h.

We claim-- 1. The combination of the hammer-body A, having the shoulders f h, with the jack 0, constructed and arranged to operate upon said shoulders substantially as described.

2. The combination of the hammer-body A, with the arm B extending forward therefrom,

the said body having shoulders f h, the jack 0, constructed with its escapement to operate upon the said shoulders, and an adjustable stop between the arm 13 and the back of the jack, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described.

3. The combination of the hammer-body A, with the arm B extending forward therefrom, the said body having shoulders f h, the jack (3, having its escapement to operate upon the said shoulders, and an adjustable stop between thejack and the foot of the hammer-body, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described.

4. The combination of the hammenbody A, with the arm B extending forward therefrom, the said body having shoulders f h, the jack 0, having its escapement to operate upon the said shoulders, and an adjustable stop between the arm B and the back of the jack, and an adjustable stop between the jack and foot, all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described.

J. D. ELLIOT.

' JAMES A. SPIKE.

Witnesses:

FRANK O. BAKER, Gnonen E. Fosrna. 

